Happy Ending
Annette Brogan, an MIT graduate and computer genius, worked as a freelance IT consultant and was often hired by major corporations such as Microsoft, Dell, Intel and Apple. Cyberspace was not only her work environment, but it was also her playground. When she was not creating apps for smartphones, making improvements to a web browser, fine-tuning an operating system or troubleshooting an anti-virus program, she enjoyed designing her own computer games and digitally enhancing photographs and videos.
One weekend Annette was on a business trip with two associates from Steele Integrated Software Products when an unexpected blizzard left them snowed in at an airport overnight. To pass the time, she suggested they watch a movie on her Sony Vaio laptop.
"Oh, no, not Titanic again," Drake Reddington groaned when Annette selected James Cameron's 1997 Oscar-winning film from her media player's menu.
"Never mind him," Luanne Carson said, "I love this movie. I could watch it all the time and never get tired of it."
Annette and Luanne drank lattes from the coffee shop as they watched Titanic while Drake closed his eyes and attempted to fall asleep on one of the uncomfortable airport chairs.
Luanne wiped the tears from her eyes as Jack, half-frozen in the water, told a shivering Rose not to give up.
"I hate this part," she sobbed.
Then as the lifeboat manned by Titanic crewmen made its way through the darkness in search of survivors, past the frozen bodies floating on the water, Rose blew the whistle and she and Jack were both rescued from the icy North Atlantic.
"What?" Luanne exclaimed with shocked disbelief as she watched Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet huddle under a blanket aboard the Carpathia and then sail safely into New York Harbor. "But that's not how the movie ends! I saw it at least a dozen times, and Leonardo DiCaprio always died."
"Not in my version of the movie he doesn't," Annette laughed.
"Where did you get this? Did you download it on the Internet?"
"No. I created it myself."
Drake, who had overheard the conversation, was suddenly interested.
"How did you do that?"
"It was quite simple actually," Annette admitted. "The movie was over three hours long, so I had more than enough images of the main characters to create a computer-generated Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater. Once my program had enough data to accurately reproduce the images, all I had to do was rewrite the ending."
"That's fascinating!" Luanne exclaimed. "Where did you ever get the idea?"
"Hollywood has been creating computer-generated creatures for years now. I figured if they can make a realistic-looking velociraptor for Jurassic Park, I could just as easily recreate images of real actors and actresses."
"Why would you want to, though?" Drake inquired.
"If you really want to know, I was sitting in a hotel room watching The Sting one evening. I had never seen the movie before, so I didn't know how it ended. When Robert Redford and Paul Newman got shot, I almost cried. But then, I saw that the shootings were part of the con and that the movie ended happily with Henry Gondorff and Johnny Hooker walking away from the phony betting parlor after getting revenge on Doyle Lonnegan."
Drake and Luanne were both trying to follow Annette's explanation, but neither one could see what The Sting had to do with Titanic.
"In The Sting, the writer adds a surprise ending and resurrects the two heroes. That's essentially what I did with Titanic: I added a surprise ending of my own, a happy one."
"Have you done this with any other movies?" Luanne asked.
"A few. For instance, in my version of Gone with the Wind, Rhett Butler says farewell to Scarlett, walks a half block down the street and decides that he really does give a damn. He then heads back to Scarlett, and the two of them return to Tara and live happily ever after."
"I've got to see that one," Luanne exclaimed with excitement.
"Did you ever think of selling this process to any of the studios?" Drake asked.
"I don't see why Hollywood would be interested in my computer-generated actors when they've got the real thing."
"Because actors are not always the most reliable people. In fact, they can be downright undependable and often extremely temperamental. They're also subject to alcoholism, drug abuse and all kinds of bad habits. I understand studios lose millions of dollars every year when principal actors are unable to perform. And then there are cases where a movie has to be shelved because one of the main players dies before the filming is finished. With your program, a studio can complete the remaining scenes using computers."
"Leave it to Drake to think only of the financial possibilities!" Luanne laughed. "Like I always said, you're a mercenary at heart."
* * *
One evening, several weeks after her business trip, Annette received a telephone call from Drake Reddington.
"What's wrong?" she asked, surprised at hearing from him again so soon. "Is there a problem with the latest spreadsheet program updates I did for your company?"
"No, they work just fine. Actually, I was calling about that program you showed me and Luanne on the trip to Seattle."
"You mean my happy-ending program?"
"Yeah. I know someone who might be interested in buying it."
"You've got to be kidding. It's just a hobby of mine. It was never meant to be taken seriously."
"Regardless of why you wrote it, this friend of mine is definitely interested in seeing how it works. Have you got a demo?"
"No, but I suppose I could burn a copy of Titanic and send it over to your office."
"Please! No more Titanic. I'm sick to death of that movie. I've got a better idea. I'll send over a videotape of me working at my desk. I'll leave at five o'clock—my usual quitting time. You rewrite the program to show me working until after midnight. Can you do that?"
"Sure. But tell me, Drake," Annette laughed, "is this really going to be a demo program, or are you trying to convince your boss that you're putting in a lot of late nights?"
Drake laughed nervously.
"Do you think I'm bucking for a raise or a promotion?"
"Could be. As Luanne said, you are a bit of a mercenary."
The videotape of Drake Reddington at his desk was delivered by Federal Express the following day. A week later Annette sent the completed program on DVD to Drake with a note that read, "Good luck with your raise."
When Drake phoned her the following week and told her that his friend had had second thoughts and decided not to invest in her happy-ending program, Annette felt no disappointment since it was never meant to be on the market. Besides, with her successful consulting business, she didn't really need the money.
* * *
Six months later Annette had a lunch meeting with Luanne Carson.
"Thanks for sending me that copy of Scarface," Luanne said as she sat down in the booth opposite Annette.
Ever since seeing the revised version of Titanic, Luanne had given Annette suggestions of movies to remake.
"I was glad to see that Tony Montana, Manny Ribera and Gina were all still standing at the end of the movie."
"That's the ending you wanted," Annette laughed. "What are you going to ask me to do next? Rewrite Helter Skelter so that Manson and his family get caught before the murders?"
Luanne stopped laughing.
"Speaking of murder, did you hear about Porter Steele's wife?"
Porter was the founder and CEO of Steele Integrated Software Products and one of the wealthiest men in the country.
"No, what happened to her?"
"She was found strangled in their penthouse two weeks ago."
"Did they catch her killer?" Annette asked with horror.
"Not yet, but I heard that several people saw a man enter and leave the building."
"What about Porter? Where was he when his wife was murdered?"
This was a valid question since word on the grapevine was that Porter was infatuated with a younger woman and had wanted a divorce for some time, but his wife refused to give him one.
"He's got an ironclad alibi. He was at a meeting with Microsoft on the West Coast the night she was murdered. It's funny, but the police even questioned Drake Reddington in connection with Mrs. Steele's death."
"Did Drake even know the woman?" Annette asked.
"I doubt it. I think they only questioned him because he bore an uncanny resemblance to the police sketch."
"What sketch is that?"
The investigating detectives questioned several people who claimed to have seen a man enter and leave the Steeles' apartment near the time of the murder. Afterward, a police artist created a composite sketch based on their descriptions."
"And it looked like Drake?"
"Yes, but the police later discovered proof that it wasn't him."
* * *
Several months went by, but there was no progress in the investigation into the murder of Mrs. Porter Steele, nor did the police ever discover the identity of the mysterious man seen entering and leaving the Steeles' penthouse.
Drake Reddington left Steele Integrated Software Products six months after the murder. He told his fellow employees that he had come into a large inheritance and was retiring to Tahiti.
"Tahiti?" Annette echoed with amazement. "His family must have been loaded."
"Surprising, isn't it?" Luanne asked. "He always impressed me as the type of man who would do anything for money. And all this time, he had a rich relative waiting in the wings."
"Somehow I can't imagine Drake Reddington sitting on the beach under an umbrella, sipping cocktails."
"I know what you mean," Luanne laughed. "He was always such a schemer. Remember that time he suggested you sell your happy-ending software to Hollywood?"
Annette shivered when she remembered Drake's interest in her program.
"Luanne, do you remember when the police questioned Drake in connection with Mrs. Steele's murder?"
"Yes. Why?"
"You told me that they had proof that Drake wasn't the man."
"Talk about luck! Porter Steele had just installed a new security system throughout the building the week before the murder. The videos the security cameras recorded confirmed that Drake was working at his desk until after midnight."
Annette did not sleep that night, struggling with her conscience until dawn. She knew in her heart that Porter Steele had paid Drake Reddington to murder his wife. Drake had most likely devised the plan to kill Mrs. Steele not long after learning about the happy-ending program and had then pitched the idea to his boss.
The problem was, how could she prove her suspicions to the police? Annette had not thought to save a copy of the original videotape Drake sent to her to create a demo of her program. Of course, she could show the police the other films she'd altered, but were they likely to arrest two prominent men for murder or conspiracy to commit murder based solely on a doctored version of Titanic or Gone with the Wind? She thought not.
Eventually, Annette came to the conclusion that going to the police would do little good. Even on the remote chance that the police did arrest Porter Steele and Drake Reddington, what was the likelihood that they would ever go to trial and be convicted? In the American justice system, people with money had an unfair advantage.
And what if Drake decided to implicate her? Annette had no way of proving she was not a willing partner in the conspiracy when she created the DVD of Drake at his desk until midnight. She had only her word that she was innocent. And, in the long run, what good would going to the police do poor Mrs. Steele? It certainly wouldn't bring her back to life.
Of the many unpleasant facts Annette had had to face during her life, one of the hardest to accept was her own unwitting participation in the death of Mrs. Steele and her inability to bring the killers to justice. Another was that, unlike sad movies, Annette could not reprogram reality and give it a happy ending.
The above image and characters from the movie Titanic © 1997 by Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount Pictures. Below: Stephen King's Cat's Eye (1985, Dino DeLaurentis Company) and The Black Cat (1934, Warner Brothers).
These are two of Salem's favorite movies. (I can't imagine why.)
